Thomas b



T. E. LEWIS.

Wagon Body;

PdtntedSeptf 1, 1868.

THOMAS E. LEWIS, or 'PENNVILLE, INDIANA.

Letters Patent No. 81,800 dated lS eptember 1, I868.

IMPROVEMENT IN' WAGON-BODIES.

(it: fitlgzttle mews in in :flgest itttters new and making hurt at finstun.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E LEWIS, of Pennville, in the county of Jay,and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Wagon-Bodies; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked'thereon,which form a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents aperspective view of my Wagon-body, I

Figure 2 a perspective of the same, with the bottom thrown back on itshinges, and

Figure 3 a view of the body when the sides, bed, and ends are foldedtogether.

The nature of this invention consists in constructing the body of awagon so that it will fold up substantially in the manner hereinafterset forth.

i To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill-now describe its construction and operation. i V

A A represent the bed-pieces of the body of a wagon, which are connectedtogether at their inner edges by the hinges g g, the straps of saidhinges being fastened to the under side of the bed-pieces A Aby means ofrivets. By the use of the hinges g g, the bed-pieces can be folded, andone made to lap on the other. 1

B B designate the side-pieces, which are attached to bed-piece A A byhinges c e. By means of this arrangement the side-pieces can be foldedinward, so as to lie flat on the bed-pieces All.

C 0 represent the two end-pieces or gates, which are provided with thestraps d at on. their outer sides, the

said straps terminating at each end in eyes which'nre intended toreceive a rod, for the purpose hereinafter designated. I

,h h represent straps attached by bolts to the ends of the side-piecesB'B, saidstraps terminating in eyes to correspond with those in strapsdd. When the bottom and sides are adjusted as seen in fig. 1, and thegates G C are in position, the eyes in (Z (I will be in aline with theeyes in h h, and a rod will be inserted in said eyes, and thus bind theend-pieces or gates C C to the side-pieces B B, which will complete theadjustment of the wagon-body.

It will be remarked that when the rod that binds one end of the gates CC to the side-pieces is removed,

the gates can be folded back against said side-pieces by means of theremaining rods, which answer the purpose of hinges. v

' One of the advantages of my invention is, that in place of itsrequiring several persons to-remove my I wagon-body from therunning-gear, one person can, by folding the bed-pieces, side-pieces,and ends together,

as shown in fig. 3, do the work easily and expeditiously.

i What I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A wagon-body constructed and operating substantially in'the mannerdescribed. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own,I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS E. LEWIS. V

Witnesses:

THOMAS GRAY, E. H. GRAY.

